Do You Collect Hotel Room Keys?

Shelby Donley, a Phoenix-based Virtuoso agency owner, has been collecting hotel room keys from about ten years of travel around the world. At first, it wasn’t a conscious decision to save the cards, but she started to notice keys floating around in her purse or bags from past stays.

“As the stack grew, I realized that creating a collage of the cards, many of which express cleverness and personality or art, would be memorable for my travels, but also as a beautiful piece of art.”

Shelby Donley’s room key collage.

Donley wanted the collage to be large, so she waited (and collected) enough cards and hotel stays to create her key masterpiece.

“Interestingly, I noticed the balance of vertical versus horizontal cards created a herringbone pattern,” she says.

When this collage is almost done (“a few stays away!”), Donley will frame it as a piece of art. But it won’t be the end of her collection – she will continue to collect keys and experiences for her next work of art.